Saina Nehwal, Kidambi Script Historic Badminton Day

Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth made India proud as they won the China Open finals on November 16.

Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth made India proud as they won the China Open finals on November 16. (All Images AFP)

Kidambi Srikanth showed nerves of steel to produce a dominating performance which helped him see off five-time world champion Lin 21-19 21-17 in the men's singles final which lasted 46 minutes.

Srikanth, who won the Thailand Open Grand Prix Gold last year, had finished runners-up at the 2014 India Open Grand Prix Gold event in Lucknow and was a quarter-finalist in this year's Malaysian Open.

This is the first time any Indian male shuttler has won a Super Series Premier event ever since the Super Series and Premier tournaments were introduced.

Srikanth was not overawed as he looked pretty comfortable against a formidable opponent.

Srikanth's triumph marks a glorious day for India in the field of badminton.

Srikanth acknowledged the cheers from the crowd as he raced to a win.

Saina Nehwal beat Japan's Akane Yamaguchi 21-12, 22-20 to win the China Open Super Series title on Sunday. It was her first title at the tournament in six attempts. Saina has now moved to number five in the world rankings.

After the win, Saina Nehwal has moved to number five in the world.

This is Saina's third title of the year as the Indian had won the Australian Super Series in June, besides clinching the Syed Modi International Grand Prix Gold early in the year.

Saina controlled the shuttle and the pace of the game and forced her young rival to commit errors to take an early advantage from which the latter could not recover.